Radris slowly looked down to Raiha’s hands as she held them out before he slowly shook his head as he grabbed one wrist, dropping the wooden rod before circling around behind her. “Your hands get bound behind your back for this one,” Radris said, slowly reaching out for her other arm then and tugging it behind her, “otherwise, you can still raise your hands defensively in an attempt to block.”
Radris then slowly began to wrap the strand of rope around Raiha’s hands, pulling them close together. “Like I said, you have to learn to instinctively avoid, and not block.” Radris explained and began tying a couple of knots, making the rope snug, but not quite snug enough to cut off circulation. “Blocking and parrying with a weapon is fine and dandy, doing so with your hands and forearms leads to injury. Unless you have some gauntlets or bracer that can stand up to it of course, but that’s a lesson for a later time.”
Radris slowly circled around to her front once again before bending over to pick up the wooden rod. He began tapping it along his shoulder once again, looking over her for a moment as he tilted his head and released an exhale. “Well, I’d love to just up and start beating on you, but Hatot would get upset if I didn’t at least explain things a little first.” Radris said in a disgruntled tone, tapping his shoulder once again. “So I guess I’ll go over them first.”
Radris took a couple of steps back, lowering the stick slightly as he looked at Raiha. “All weapons have three basic attacks to them, no matter the weapon. It just seems like more depending on how a weapon user approaches those attacks and how fast they are with them, but in the end the movements don’t change up that much, just how their angled and where they’re aimed.”
Radris then swung the stick through the air, coming from the side, from above, below and at different angles. “You’ll have the most common attack of most weapons, the hack or slash, as some wanker will swing their weapon, trying to chop you into bits or bludgeon the shyke out of you if it’s a blunt weapon.” Radris explained before stepping up to Raiha before tapping her shoulder with the end of the rod. “If a swinging attack is coming from the side, duck down below it of course to make a strike at their lower bodies then. Or lean back out of it’s reach so you can make a grab or strike for an opponent’s arm. Though ducking below will generally be more successful.”
“If the hack comes in from above, below or a shallow angle,” Radris said before reaching out with both of his hands, grasping Raiha’s shoulders and turning her body, forcing a side step movement out of her, “step out of the way, preferably on the outside of their attacking arm. This will give you an opening for his elbow and wrist joints.”
Radris then began tapping Raiha’s legs. “When they’re aiming to lop of your legs, if you can clear the height, jump over the swing.” Radris commented before giving a slow shrug. “However, I find it more effective just to step forward quickly towards the opponent, getting right up in their face. They’ll either find that their arm or hand is bouncing off your leg then, or their swing will be simply be stopped in surprise reaction simply because they find that you’re standing with nothing more than an couple inches of clearance between you and them.”
Radris then began poking Raiha along her stomach. “The next of course is the thrust attack, most common with spears, and piercing swords or daggers.” Radris said before raising the rod to tap along his shoulder again. “For those, begin learning how flexible your body can actually be. It can bend and twist in multiple ways that even Kavala found surprising during her late night romps with Hatot. You’re balance will be important though for this. It’s over if you find yourself leaning back and suddenly falling on your ass.”
He then began poking at Raiha’s leg. “You’re whole body doesn’t even have to move sometimes. When a specific limb is targeted, simply moving the limb is sufficient.” Radris explained. “In the end, attacking the offending limb as the attack is made towards you will yield the best results, however, depending on the skill of the bastard, you’ll not always have that opportunity. So evading is the next best thing. The key thing is, manipulating your body to get out of the way of the attack, rather than trying to back up and get out of it’s reach. As Hatot said, if you get out of the reach of their weapon, that means they’re out of your reach as well. If all you‘re doing is backing away, they have doubled the advantage they already have with their weapon."
“Getting in closer is more effective, as almost every weapon becomes useless for killing once you‘ve closed to a certain distance between you and your foe.” Radris explained as he stepped right up in front of Raiha, raising the road as he began angling it downward towards her. She found that he was having to stretch, for any sort of a thrust attack, and a slight swing found that the part of rod closest to his hand would be the most likely part striking her, causing only shallow cuts where less of the swings force would be found in a weapon . “If you’re this close, anything longer than a short sword will be rendered useless for anything aside from shallow cuts and injuries, and will force them to back up instead. When you’re this close, you’re also in prime position to make strikes using hand to hand, so then you’re in total control until your foe decides to back away from you.”
Radris then took a couple of steps back. Tapping his shoulder with the rod once again. A quick chuckle then escaped his lips before he suddenly swung the rod at Raiha quickly, striking her along the shoulder. “Oh, we’re beginning by the way.” Radris then said, chuckling over his lack of warning as he raised the rod again for another strike.
